Short Story Collection
by CatLikesTea
Summary: A series of drabbles and short stories for the Hogwarts House Competition Year One /Team: Ravenclaw/ Previous: It's the Marauders' last Christmas at Hogwarts/ Recent: Draco and Harry have a duel... another one.
1. Chicken

**House: Ravenclaw**

 **Category: Themed**

 **Prompt: Assault course**

 **Word count: 523**

Chicken

Padma Patil was by no means _cowardly_. Just because her Gryffindor sister had signed up for the Hogwarts assault course when she simply preferred to stay in the common room and read, it didn't mean Padma a coward. Nor did she have to prove this by crawling about in mud for an hour doing some endurance test.

Unfortunately, Padma's sister Parvati and her friend Lavender could not seem to comprehend this, and decided that because she preferred not to do anything that involved any form of exercise, that she was not only a coward, but a _chicken_. Padma could stand being accused of being a little more dignified (what they seemed to call being cowardly) but took great offence to being compared to a non-magical animal with a brain the size of a thumbnail.

Thus, she found herself in her current predicament. She pulled at her blue and silver vest anxiously. She had never been one for sports, but the memory of her twin calling her a chicken made her more determined than ever to beat her. Even if that did mean throwing away her dignity and crawling in mud.

"Padma!" Parvati yelled waving her over, getting ready at the starting point, lining up next to Lavender. Padma walked over and positioned herself next to them.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Lavender asked, grinning. "We'll understand if you aren't, it doesn't matter to us if you're a chicke-,"

"I am not going to back down," Padma said through gritted teeth, "And I am most certainly not a chicken, so if I finish this course, you are never calling me that again."

Lavender held up her hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay," she smirked, "Don't get your knickers in a twist."

The starting cannon fired, and Padma stumbled forward, slightly disorientated. Looking to see where the others were headed, she realised in horror, that they were required to _run_ to the first obstacle. The run looked about 100 metres and as everyone else hurtled off at great speeds, Padma jogged, already out of breath. Anyway, she told herself, she was simply saving her energy. She was determined though- she _was_ going to win.

The lengths she went to prove herself to her sister, thought Padma, as she clutched the multiple stitches in her side. In the past hour, she had had to crawl through a bog, do battle with a hinkypunk, climb over some walls, and _swim_ through pond water. Padma couldn't actually swim, but she cast a floating charm on herself and propelled herself through the water by kicking, making wild splashing movements with her arms and grabbing onto other contestants. She managed to pull Roger Davies under the water, dragging him behind, which was unfortunate because he was one of the only Ravenclaws who had a chance of getting them any points.

 _She was going to win_ mocked a voice in her head.

Two hours later, Padma found herself sprawled in the mud while her sister and the rest of the Gryffindor team did a victory dance because _of course_ they had won.

At least she wasn't a chicken.


	2. Pizza Dough and Flour Fights

**House: Ravenclaw**

 **Category: Drabble**

 **Prompt: Making a pizza**

 **Word count: 496**

Pizza Dough and Flour Fights

Sirius Black was by far the best cook in Gryffindor. Scrap that, Sirius Black was probably the best cook in Hogwarts. Consequently, when it came to food, Sirius was very hard to impress, and the only people to have done so were the Hogwarts House Elves and James' mum, Dorea Potter. Sirius' natural habitat was the kitchens, and while people thought he went there to eat, he actually went to cook alongside the house elves and assumed he was the only person to do so.

Naturally, when Sirius found Remus Lupin taking his usual spot in the kitchens, he was taken by surprise. Sneaking up on his friend, Sirius tackled him from behind.

"Argh!" screamed Remus, dropping some sort of sauce on the floor. Sirius dipped a finger in the bowl to taste what was remaining.

"Mmm, tomato sauce. What're you making Moony?"

Remus glared at him. "Well, I was making pizza, before you made me drop the sauce all over the floor."

Oops, so he had.

"Sorry Moony. It tasted decent as well," Sirius apologized regretfully.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Only decent?"

"Well, yeah," Sirius said smirking.

"Why, think you could do better?"

"You're on."

Before Sirius could even blink, Remus had grabbed another tin of tomatoes and started mixing them into his bowl.

"Ingredients are in the fridge," he called, chucking Sirius an apron.

Sirius growled and rolled up his sleeves confidently.

Once he'd finished making the pizza dough, Sirius joined Remus at his counter. He got out a rolling pin and, after sprinkling flour on the table, started rolling out the dough. Remus looked at him incredulously.

"You can't do that!"

Sirius looked at him, confused, "Do what?"

"Roll it like that! You have to do it the proper way, like this," he tossed his dough high up into the air and caught deftly with the other hand. "You try."

Sirius took his dough apprehensively and threw it about a foot into the air, before letting it flop onto the counter, sending a cloud of flour into his and Remus' face.

Remus coughed. "Okay, well, not like that. You actually have to catch it, Siri."

Sirius chucked it carelessly into the air, then caught it skillfully, just before it hit the counter.

"Nice," Remus praised, and Sirius chucked it again, and it went up high… too high for him to catch.

"Shit," he murmured. He could see exactly where it was heading.

Remus looked up at the wrong time, just as Sirius' pizza came down on his face.

The dough seemed to take ages to fall away from Remus' face and when it did, Sirius gulped. Remus was glowering at him menacingly, and Sirius shuddered. If looks could kill…

Moony grinned at him evilly and grabbed a handful of flour. Sirius knew what was coming.

"FLOUR FIGHT!" He yelled.

Needless to say, the boys never found out who cooked the best pizza (although Sirius was still convinced he could beat Remus any day).


	3. The Scaring Games

House: Ravenclaw  
Category: Drabble  
Prompt: Ghosts  
Word count: 893

The Scaring Game

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington rather disliked Halloween. Not only was it the day of his death, (a very unfortunate event indeed) but it was the day that Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore and his Headless band of useless, impotent ghosts (whose only merits were the fact their heads had been chopped clean off) had denied his application.

So when Nicholas created his own group of ghosts- The Hogwarts' Ghost Society- it was not because he was jealous. Naturally.

There was a large amount of rivalry between the groups; since the creation of the HGS, every year on Halloween there would be a competition over who could frighten the most people.

The rules were as follows:

1\. Each participant must belong to either the 'Headless Hunt' or 'The Hogwarts' Ghost Society'.

2\. Two adjudicators per team will be allowed to keep score, and they cannot belong to either of the participating societies.

3\. For successfully scaring a teacher, your team will receive fifteen points. Scaring a student is worth five points, and if the headmaster is scared, fifty points will be awarded.

The HGS had not won the game in over five decades. This year, however, was going to be different.

This was the year the Baron had joined, and the Bloody Baron was extremely competitive, so he had convinced Peeves to join, too.

Yes, this year, they were certainly going to win.

And so it began.

The game was held in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom because, well, she refused to come out for anything. Apart from spying in the Prefect's Bathroom. Oh, and that one Deathday party, but that was compulsory, no negotiations. Anyway, she was a vital part of the games, and, as the founder, Sir Nicholas, was able to hold it wherever he liked.

"We are gathered here today," called Sir Nicholas importantly, raising his voice, "To hold the annual Game, which has been going for three hundred and twenty-four years. As the proud founder of the games, I-,"

"Oh, get on with it, will you?" interrupted a member of the Headless Hunt, tossing his head about carelessly. "We haven't got all night!"

Sir Nicholas sighed. This happened every year. "Oh, very well then. I assume we're all familiar with the rules, yes?" He puffed out his chest. "Then let the games begin!"

The ghosts departed.

"Since there are only two scorekeepers, we must split into two groups. Peeves, you captain one, Baron can captain the other."

Peeves saluted and flew off with the Fat Friar and Helena Ravenclaw, Sir Nicholas trailing behind. The Baron stayed with the Wailing Widow and the Nameless Knight. Myrtle was supposed to be on that team (in an attempt to keep her separated from Peeves) but she refused to budge from the bathroom, claiming she could scare girls who needed the loo. The argument would have lasted a lot longer if the Baron hadn't reasoned that they were wasting precious time, causing Myrtle to storm off in a huff.

Meanwhile, Peeves' group were doing exceedingly well. They had scared approximately twenty-seven students and three professors, and only fifteen minutes had passed. They probably could have won if they had simply carried on that way. Peeves, however, wasn't having it.

"Fifty points guys! That's like scaring…" Peeves did the maths quickly, "Ten students! Or three point three teachers."

"Which we could do easily," pointed out Nick. "Besides, no-one's scared the headmaster for over a century, and that almost ended in banishment from the castle."

"Which you know full well Dumbledore wouldn't do," whined Peeves. "Oh come on, you guys are so boring, it'll be fun!"

With that, Peeves zoomed off, leaving the others with no choice but to follow.

The Baron's group had taken a more strategic approach to the challenge. The Baron and the Knight would make haunting noises and knock things over. Then, the Widow would appear suddenly, shouting something along the lines of, "I will eat your brains," which tended to scare humans for some reason. They had so far managed to scare thirty-five students.

"Look, there's a teacher coming down the charms corridor," hissed the Knight.

The Wailing Widow wailed threateningly, but the teacher didn't react.

"Let's go and see who it is," the Baron whispered. The ghosts complied and drifted down the corridor.

The Baron started slightly when he realized who it was. "Ah! Professor Binns! Taking part in the games this year?"

The professor ignored him and went on his way.

The Baron harrumphed. "How rude."

"Ready?" Peeves whispered, rattling the chandelier above the man's head. Dumbledore looked up curiously, just as Peeves swooped down, becoming visible and shouting, "BOO!"

The headmaster didn't even flinch.

"Ah, Peeves," he said, his eyes twinkling. "Taking part in the games this year, are we?"

"You weren't scared!" accused Peeves indignantly.

"No, I suppose I wasn't," said the headmaster, sounding very amused. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important things to do, such as this excellent muggle idea called 'Trick-or-treating'. I have been told it will get me free Muggle candy, which I must say I am quite partial to." He turned away and walked off down the corridor, humming to himself.

The Hogwarts Ghost Society didn't scare the headmaster and didn't win the game either.

Which was probably just as well, as the prize was a piece of rotting salmon.

The End


	4. Cat Trouble

House: Ravenclaw

Category: Themed

Prompts: Hogsmeade

Word count: 794

Cat Trouble

"Remus, will you keep that cat of yours under control!"

After years of claiming he disliked animals, during the summer holiday, Remus had finally bought a pet. He already had an owl, but when he had written, he had told the Marauders he wanted (as he put it) a 'fluffy' pet. Apparently, he'd looked after a cat over the summer, and had gotten so attached he wanted his own.

Sirius had warned him not to get too attached, else he would end up like his next-door neighbour- living alone with twenty cats. Remus had laughed at this and assured Sirius he wouldn't turn into a crazy cat lady. For once, Remus was wrong.

He took that bloody cat everywhere, and James often accused him of choosing the cat over his friends, which was probably true, although Remus denied it every time. Now Tiddles (a rather boring name if you asked Sirius) was ruining a perfectly nice Hogsmeade weekend, which otherwise would have been spent with just his boyfriend.

Sirius growled as the furry menace attacked him viciously with her claws. Well, he was sure she would have done if he hadn't stopped her by picking her up warily and holding her at an arm's length.

"Remus! Stop this- this furry demon at once!"

"Oh Sirius, don't be so harsh on poor Tiddles! It's not like you aren't mean to her as well. Don't think I haven't heard the stories of my cat being chased by a 'big, black, shaggy dog' which appeared out of nowhere. Anyway, I don't see why you two don't like each other, look at her!" At that, Remus picked up the cat and started stroking her affectionately.

Tiddles had a smug look on her face and Sirius growled threateningly. That was exactly why he didn't like her. Scrap that, the cat stealing all of Remy's attention was only a tiny part of the reason he did not like Tiddles. In fact, he had so many reasons, he could write a novel about it if he wanted to! (But he didn't because Sirius Black was very lazy)

One of the reasons was that he was partially afraid of cats (but he would rather die than admit that out loud).

Another was that Moony seemed to prefer the cat to himself (although he was not jealous!).

When Remus finally put down the cat, Tiddles actually had the nerve to smirk at him. He didn't even know cats could smirk!

This was going to be a long day.

They were joined for lunch by James and Lily- apparently, Peter had got himself a date, so he was absent from the group. As soon as Lily saw the cat Remus was cradling in his arms, she made a cooing noise and rushed to stroke it. James and Sirius shrugged at each other- they honestly couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Lily's cooing had attracted a group of girls, and they were all crowding around Remus and the cat, obviously flirting with him, but Remus (as usual) was oblivious.

Sirius was practically seething by the time Remus sat down again. Remus noticed this and stopped stroking Tiddles to look at him.

"What's wrong, Sirius?"

Sirius frowned. He thought it was perfectly clear what the problem was. James answered for him.

"I think Sirius is annoyed because the girls were flirting with you. Oh, and your cat. He's definitely jealous of your cat."

Sirius nodded. That was right, he was annoyed because the girls were trying to hit on Rem- wait, what did James just say?

"I am not jealous of the stupid cat, okay?"

Remus just looked confused. "But those girls weren't flirting, they just wanted to see Tiddles! And why would Sirius be jealous of my cat?"

Lily and James were laughing openly now, and Sirius glared at them.

"I AM NOT-,"

"Sirius, be quiet," Lily scolded. "Remus, Sirius is jealous that you give your cat more attention than him because he wants to hog it all for himself," She turned to Sirius with a stern look on her face though she was trying hard not to smile. "Isn't that right?"

Sirius was about to deny it again, but at the look on Lily's face, he gave in. "Alright," he said, letting out a huff of air. "Maybe a little."

The other three looked at him amused. "I thought as much," grinned Lily.

"You know, I still prefer Tiddles," Remus said, shaking his head.

But on the walk back to the castle, Remus held Sirius' hand instead of carrying his cat, and Tiddles had to walk alongside them.

Sirius looked at the cat smugly, as if to say, "See? Remus' all mine now, so there."

And so he was.

The End


	5. Cake

House: Ravenclaw

Category: Short Story

Prompts: "Cake is not a valid excuse,"

Word count: 904

Cake

James Potter, Head Boy of Hogwarts school, did not like prefect meetings. Especially now he was a sleep-deprived teenager studying for the most important exams of his life. Worse still, James had no idea how he came to have this position. He was the school's most notorious trouble-maker! Maybe McGonagall thought it would keep him out of trouble, though James couldn't say it had worked. He simply continued like before, and got in worse trouble than the others because he was supposed to be an example.

James thought this was terribly unfair. He hadn't asked to be Head Boy!

That is why he was currently hiding in the kitchens, away from the prefects and away from the boring old meeting.

At least, until his plans were foiled. As usual.

And as usual, his plan-spoiler was a certain angry Head Girl.

"James Potter! Why pray tell, are you not in the important prefect meeting Professor Dumbledore specifically told us was completely mandatory and not to be missed?"

James found it fascinating how her face slowly changed colour until it was a spectacular red hue. It even rivalled her hair, making her look not unlike a tomato, he thought.

Unfortunately, he ended up voicing these thoughts aloud, as when you are doubled up in laughter, sometimes things slip out.

If possible, Evans' face turned even angrier, and James swore he could see smoke coming out her ears. Although he felt guilty comparing her to inferior objects, (really, he thought she was quite marvellous) he did it again, asking her innocently how she managed to look so much like the Hogwarts express.

"JAMES POTTER! Will you answer my question?" She practically exploded on him, causing him to cower slightly.

"Yes, sir! I have a perfectly valid reason why I am here! I didn't want to go to the meeting, and I needed somewhere to go. Someone told me the chocolate cake in here was excellent so…" He gestured to the empty plate.

"Cake is not a valid excuse," she said annoyed. "If you didn't want to go to meetings then why didn't you ask for someone else to be Head Boy?"

A rather good question, and James pondered the answer thoughtfully. "I didn't think you could do that," he answered truthfully. "It should have been Remus though, after all, he was the prefect."

Lily nodded her head in agreement.

"Anyway, that doesn't mean you can slack off meetings. Give me one reason I shouldn't give you detention for this… And take away house points."

James gulped. "Okay… Hold on, we can give each other detentions?"

"Honestly Potter, did you even read the book about Heads and Prefects that Professor Dumbledore gave us?"

James frowned. "Wait, we were given a book?"

"Robert Robertson's guide to Prefect and Head Duties. It's very interesting."

Before James could ask why the author was called Robert when his surname was Robertson, Lily had pulled out the book.

"See Potter, it says here that we can take house points from any student, so unless you decide to temporarily stop being a student- Merlin knows how- I will be forced to give you a detention."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. See, it says you can take house points, but not assign detentions."

Lily frowned and looked at the book. "I see… There must be a different section for that. Well, how do you intend to stop me taking house points then?"

"Well, we're in the same house and so I doubt you'd take away points. That could stop us winning the house cup."

"Oh yeah? Try me."

"You wouldn't."

"Five points from Gryffindor."

James gasped in mock horror. "Evans, you've let the team down."

"Well I said I would, didn't I?"

James pouted. "I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"Wait, so does this mean you've never taken points away from Gryffindor, even if you would have done if they were in another house?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

James coughed nervously. "Don't you think we'd being better be getting back to the meeting?" he asked lamely, trying to change the subject. Fortunately, Lily took the bait.

"Oh, I forgot about the meeting!" She cried, and before he could object, grabbed his wrist and rushed out the portrait.

"Ah, good to see you Mr Potter, Miss Evans. I think we all need to get onto the meeting now, don't you?" Professor Dumbledore asked when they walked in, smiling slightly.

"I am so sorry Professor!" Lily cried wringing her hands.

"That's quite alright," Dumbledore said. "Say, where did you manage to find Mr Potter here?"

James looked at her worriedly. He might not care at all for meetings, but Lily was right- Cake wasn't a terribly good excuse.

"Oh, he… He just got lost the on way here," she said, looking at the floor.

"I see," said Dumbledore, clearly seeing right through her lie. "Well, shall we proceed with the meeting?"

"I erm… Thanks for saving me back there," James mumbled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, I figured as I'd already taken points, it wouldn't be fair for you to be punished again… Yeah."

"Yeah," James repeated, averting his eyes.

"Um, James?"

He looked up sharply at the mention of his given name.

"Yeah?"

"I'll… I'll see you around, okay?"

James smirked. "I'll see you around… Lily."

With that, they walked off opposite directions, each one smiling to themselves.

The End


	6. A Dinner to Remember

House: Ravenclaw  
Category: Drabble  
Prompt: Dinner Party  
Word count: 812

A Dinner to Remember

When Lily walked into her bedroom to get ready for her parent's dinner party, she didn't expect Petunia to be practically hanging out the window, looking with interest at… well, she wasn't quite sure.

"Petunia," Lily hissed. "What on earth are you doing?"

Petunia jumped slightly and turned around guiltily. "There's an attractive boy down there," she said, pointing out the window.

Lily sighed, annoyed. Petunia had been doing this all summer, as she wanted an excuse to get away from her clingy boyfriend. However, Vernon, her boyfriend, was invited to the dinner party tonight and Lily wasn't sure what Petunia was trying to achieve by staring at other boys just five minutes before the party was meant to start.

"Well, you can go look at him from your bedroom. I'm trying to get ready in here."

"Oh, but Lily, the view's so much better from your bedroom."

Lily frowned. Whoever it was couldn't have been stood there for that long, could he?

"Move over, let me see."

"Oi, you're blocking him. Lily, I can't see! Isn't he handsome?"

Lily looked down at the boy and a look of realization came over her face. She began to chuckle slightly and after about ten seconds she was rolling on the floor, laughing so hard tears began streaming down her face.

"What's so funny?" Petunia demanded, folding her arms.

"Tuney, that's James Potter. You know, the one who came a week ago? After he'd left, you said he was a suck-up with an ego the size of his inflated head, remember?

Petunia did remember and started turning a nice shade of maroon. "I- I change my mind. His hair's too messy for my liking." She stuck her nose up in the air. "He looks so scruffy, I… The angle was wrong and I couldn't see him properly. Nope, not my type."

Lily laughed at this. "Whatever you say, Tuney. Come on, he's probably forgotten which house it is again."

She pulled on a light blue sundress and quickly applied some mascara before dragging Petunia down the stairs to greet the guests.

When Lily opened the door, it wasn't just James standing there, but another familiar face.

"Vernon!" exclaimed Petunia, attempting to sound pleased but failing miserably.

"Hello, Petunia," said Vernon, politely. "How's the family?"

The two walked into the living room, making awkward small talk and leaving James and Lily behind them.

"Hullo, Evans," James smirked, leaning casually on the doorframe. "You look nice, as always."

"You look rather handsome yourself," Lily admitted. He was wearing a dark grey Muggle suit, with an emerald green shirt. His hair was messy as always and his wand poked out suspiciously from his front pocket, although to his credit, it was mostly hidden by his jacket.

Lily pecked him on the cheek and offered him her hand.

"Shall we?"

James ruffled his hair nervously with one hand and grabbed Lily's with the other.

"Of course, milady."

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was incredibly tense, as Vernon struggled not to comment on James' hair and James tried not to laugh at the other's moustache.

"So, Vernon, what do you do for a living?" James asked awkwardly, trying to make conversation. Vernon coughed importantly.

"I work for Grunnings. They make drills - a very important business if I do say so myself. What do you do? Probably a cleaner or something, aren't you, if the state of your hair has anything to say about it."

"Well, actually-" James interjected, but was quickly interrupted by Lily.

"James is actually an, erm, a salesperson. He works in…" She gestured around wildly. "In Scotland!"

'Scotland?' She thought to herself. That was possibly the worst lie she could have come up with.

Vernon seemed to think so too.

"In, ah, Scotland?" he questioned, skeptically. "How lovely. Long car journey? You do have a car, right?"

"Oh, yes, a car," James stumbled over his words. "Yes, of course, I have one of those."

"What model?" Vernon asked, unrelentingly.

"I- er," James faltered slightly and turned to Lily helplessly. Lily began mouthing at him from across the table and James tried his best to say the right thing.

"A fork- no, Ford, sorry. Um, a Ford Escort," he managed and Lily gave him a thumbs up from across the table.

"Hmm," Vernon said. "Well, I'm sure you do. I'm surprised you could get a job at all looking as scruffy as that though."

"Vernon! That was quite unnecessary!" Lily said, crossly.

"Well, when they're as talentless and unprofessional as that, just let them sleep on the streets, I say."

It was an understatement to say that Vernon wasn't prepared when Lily socked him in the face.

What was supposed to be a dinner party turned into a war zone soon after.

Personally, Lily thought it was quite successful.

The End


	7. The Last Christmas

House: Ravenclaw  
Category: Themed  
Prompt: Christmas  
Word Count: 640

The Last Christmas

Sirius watched the Whomping Willow intently, as it stilled long enough to coat itself in a layer of the ever-falling snow, then shook it off with great force. It wasn't unlike a dog shaking off water, he thought, as it covered nearby students from head to foot in wet, cold mush. He liked that it worked like clockwork - still, shake, repeat, again and again. It took his mind off things, how everything was changing so quickly and he couldn't seem to keep up. More than anything, it made him forget he was feeling any emotion other than happy. Happy for Christmas, happy life was moving on, happy everyone was finally growing up.

The problem was, he just couldn't pretend. He couldn't stand the thought of it being the Marauders' last Christmas at Hogwarts.

That was why Sirius had taken the time to think, undisturbed in the Hogwarts' grounds. He had recently been taking a lot of time away from the people he cared about to clear his head. While he felt guilty, he couldn't help but enjoy the peace.

Sirius was still sitting outside a few hours later, when the rest of the Marauders went outside, deciding to take a break from the seemingly endless studying.

"What're you doing here, Padfoot?" James asked, grinning as he went to his best friend, slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"Ah, nothing. Just thinking," Sirius answered vaguely.

"Well, we were thinking too. As it's the Marauders last Christmas together, we're all going to stay at Hogwarts and celebrate it together."

Sirius smiled. He was hoping they would agree to stay, as he knew from experience that the Gryffindor tower got incredibly lonely when he was on his own at Christmas.

"That's a great idea, Prongs."

On Christmas morning, Sirius was woken by a very excited James jumping on his bed. Remus appeared to have been given a similar wake-up call, as he was rubbing his head and glaring at their friend.

"Prongs, what…" Sirius looked over at the alarm clock. "It's half four James, go back to bed!"

"I couldn't possibly do that!" James said, excitedly. "Most of the day's already flown by!"

"Okay, okay," Remus sighed, already sliding out of his four-poster. He sat down on Sirius' bed and was soon joined by Peter.

"Have we got the presents?" Peter asked the group, shyly.

They all simultaneously took out their gifts for each other. Sirius got Honeydukes' chocolate from Peter, new Quidditch gloves and a book on jinxes from James, and colour changing ink and liquorice wands from Remus.

He didn't receive anything from his parents which was okay - he hadn't expected anything.

It was still early morning, so the four went out to the grounds and engaged in a snowball fight, which they got really into, leaving them all soaked to the skin and freezing cold. Going inside to warm up, they skipped breakfast and were pleasantly surprised to find a sizeable stack of toast waiting for them in the Gryffindor Common Room instead.

The Christmas dinner was, as usual, the best thing Sirius had tasted all year. He was going to miss the house elves' cooking, he thought, grinning, as he stuffed himself with turkey, roast potatoes and peas.

"Slow down, Sirius, you look like you haven't eaten in a year!" Remus scolded, but for once

Sirius was backed by James and Peter, who couldn't deny that the Christmas dinner was, in fact, wonderful.

"So, Sirius, last Christmas at Hogwarts. How's it been?" Remus asked him that evening as they sat by the fire toasting marshmallows and playing Exploding Snap.

"Better than ever," Sirius said, and he meant it. He couldn't have asked for a better last Christmas at Hogwarts. Maybe it wasn't so bad to leave Hogwarts if he got to leave with his friends.

The End


	8. Another Duel

House: Ravenclaw  
Category: Short Story  
Prompt: Duelling  
Word count: 938

Another Duel

Harry didn't know what had come over him. He knew he was in trouble the moment Draco Malfoy challenged him to a duel, but to agree to it? Afterwards, Ron had called him an idiot who needed to think before he acted and Harry thought that summed him up quite nicely.

He knew Draco was a bit, well, salty after their argument in which his Father was brought up, but really, there was no need for a duel. Sure, maybe his Father being in Azkaban was a sensitive subject, but Malfoy had insulted his parents which was really quite unnecessary

What was worse, was that Harry had been trying to make amends with the Malfoy family ever since the end of the war and this certainly wasn't going to help.

You could say Harry was in a bit of a pickle.

Ron and himself got to the trophy room about twenty minutes early and Harry couldn't help but be reminded of first-year when Malfoy hadn't turned up at all. Then, he was annoyed at Malfoy for attempting to get him in trouble, but now he couldn't help but hope he wouldn't turn up.

No such luck.

Malfoy arrived right as Harry's watch read seven o'clock, followed closely by Blaise Zabini.

"Well, hello Potter," he smirked, running his finger nonchalantly along the trophies as he walked, creating a trail in the dust. "Glad to see I turned up this time?"

'Not really,' Harry's inner voice said, but he actually said, "Of course… Now we can see who really is the best dueller."

"Okay then. Potter, bow."

Harry remained standing up straight, unsure.

"I said bow, Potter."

Harry bowed. Well, it wasn't so much a bow as a nod of the head, an action which was noted by Draco who had bowed deeply and was facing the floor.

"Properly."

Harry bent a fraction lower and Draco sighed. "That'll have to do, I suppose. Right, on my count of three. One, two-,"

"How come you get to count, Malfoy?" Interjected Ron. "Blaise or myself should do it, so it's fair."

"Oh alright," said Malfoy, sneering. "Blaise, count."

"One… Two… Three."

"Furnunculus!" Shouted Harry at the same time as Draco yelled,

"Tentaclifors!"

Draco's spell missed, but Harry's spell hit, causing boils to erupt all across Draco's face. Harry was glad Malfoy's had missed because he was sure it was a jinx which turned one's head into a tentacle.

"Ducklifors!" Cried Malfoy angrily. Harry managed to dodge it, but it hit Ron instead, turning him into a duck.

"I'll get you for that, Malfoy!" He shouted. This was stupid anyway. Why on earth were they duelling? They weren't even using proper spells, just childish ones like… The duck jinx?

"Ebublio!" Harry bellowed and Draco was suddenly trapped in a large bubble.

"Melofors!" Malfoy yelled furiously, his voice muffled by the bubble. Harry didn't manage to duck it in time and suddenly it went very dark and for some reason, everything smelled of… pumpkin?

"Hey!" He shouted. "Who turned out the lights?"

He heard what sounded like someone laughing hysterically which he identified to be Malfoy.

"You-," began the voice, gasping for breath. "You have a pumpkin on your head!" The statement was followed by another bout of hysterical laughter.

Harry brought his hands up to his head. He _had_ suddenly felt a very heavy weight on his shoulders…

His hands felt around. It was true- where his head was, he felt a smooth texture encasing it. He really did have a pumpkin on his head!

What he did next was quite unexpected- he really didn't know what came over him. He started chuckling along with Malfoy and soon he was literally rolling on the floor with laughter. A pumpkin!

From what he heard, Malfoy was still laughing as well, so getting up, he felt around for him.

"I'm over here Potter," Malfoy called from across the room and Harry made his way over slowly, his hands in front of his head to prevent him from hitting anything.

"Can you do the counter curse? We won't be able to continue the duel otherwise," Harry said when he thought he was standing more or less in front of Malfoy.

"Turn around, Potter, you're talking to one of the trophies," said Malfoy from behind him and Harry could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Harry turned slowly with his hands out in front of him until he felt something vaguely human-like. He brought his hands up to the face and started feeling it to see who it was.

"That's Blaise," whispered Malfoy's voice right next to his ear, causing him to jump. Harry turned to poke him and when he succeeded, was rewarded with an indignant yelp which definitely belonged to Malfoy.

"Counter-curse?" He asked. "We should continue the duel."

"Who says I haven't already won?" Questioned Malfoy, who was far too close for Harry's liking. "I mean, your friend is a duck and you have a pumpkin on your head," he added helpfully, as if Harry didn't already know.

"Well, what about you? You're trapped inside a bubble," Harry said, annoyed, before realising that Malfoy's voice sounded a lot clearer than before.

"Am I?" Malfoy smirked, which answered Harry's question. Instead of asking how he knew the counter curse, Harry answered Malfoy's earlier question instead.

"If I agree and say you've won, will you do the counter curse?"

There was silence.

"Malfoy?"

Nothing.

"MALFOY, COME BACK HERE AT ONCE AND PERFORM THE COUNTER CURSE, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

There was another silence and all Harry got was a resounding quack from Ron.

Bugger.


End file.
